Attorney Profiles
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David Edmund Ralston Law Offices of David Ralston 190 McKinney Street Blue Ridge, GA 30513 |
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David Ralston is a former state senator and was the 1998 Republican nominee for Attorney General of Georgia. He was elected as the House Representative for District 6 as a Republican in 2002.
Ralston was elected to the Georgia State Senate in 1992 in his first bid for public office. He served three terms in the senate after being re-elected in both 1994 and 1996 with no opposition. In the Senate, he represented the counties of Cherokee, Fannin, Gilmer, Gordon and Pickens.
Ralston is a Republican and lives in Blue Ridge, with his wife, Jane, and their two children, Elizabeth and Matt. He is a graduate of North Georgia College and the University of Georgia Law School, He practices law in Blue Ridge.
An active member of the community, Ralston is past president of the Appalachian Circuit Bar Association and the Blue Ridge Mountain Arts Association. He has also been a member of the State Bar of Georgia Board of Governors. He is past President of the Fannin County Chamber of Commerce.
In the Senate, Ralston served on the Appropriations, Education, Judiciary and Rules Committees. He chaired the Senate Republican Welfare Reform Task Force which led Georgia to adoption of a tough welfare reform plan in 1997. He served as vice-chairman of the Senate Republican caucus for the 1997-98 term.
Ralston introduced tough parole reform legislation that would prevent the early release of anyone who kills or injures a public safety officer. He also fought for tougher DUI laws and measures to shorten the appeals process in death penalty cases.
In 1995, Ralston led the fight to cut the costs of state government as chairman of the Senate Study Committee on Privatization of Governmental Services and Functions. He also served on the Governor's Privatization Commission.
Ralston won the Republican nomination for Attorney General of Georgia in 1998. In the closest statewide race in Georgia that year, he was narrowly defeated in the general election by the smallest margin for any statewide Republican candidate.
- Year Joined Organization:
- 1983
- Areas Of Practice:
- Civil and Criminal Trial and Litigation
- Personal Injury
- Property and Real Estate-Related Disputes
- Domestic Relations
- Bar Admissions:
- Georgia, 1980
- Supreme Court of Georgia, 1980
- Georgia Court of Appeals, 1980
- U.S. District Court Middle District of Georgia, 1980
- U.S. District Court Northern District of Georgia, 1980
- U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit, 1980
- U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit, 1980
- U.S. District Court Western District of North Carolina, 1984
- U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit, 1985
- U.S. Supreme Court, 1985
- Tennessee, 1987
- Education:
- University of Georgia School of Law, Athens, Georgia, 1980
- J.D.
- Honors: Intrastate Moot Court Team
- Honors: National Moot Court Team
- Honors: Order of the Barristers
- North Georgia College, 1976
- Bachelor of Arts
- Honors: magna cum laude
- Honors: With Honors
- Honors: Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society
- Major: Political Science
- Minor: English
- Representative Cases:
- State vs Paul Wright (Gilmer County Superior Court 1984)
- State vs Mary Melissa Greene (Fannin County Superior Court 1986)
- Mason vs Colwell (Union County Superior Court)
- State v. Alan Shuler (Gilmer County Superior Court 1989)
- Coleman-et. al. vs Burnette (Gilmer County Superior Court 1991)
- Classes/Seminars Taught:
- Trucking Law Seminar, Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, 1989
- Trucking Law Seminar, Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, 1990
- Physical Abuse of Children: Medical and Legal Considerations, Institute of Continuing Legal Education in Georgia, 1998
- Professional Associations and Memberships:
- Appalachian Circuit Bar Association, 1983 - Present
- Secretary-Treasurer, Vice President, and President
- State Bar of Georgia, 1989 - 1993
- Board of Governors
- American Bar Association
- Blue Ridge Mountain Arts Association
- Past President
- Fannin County Chamber of Commerce
- Past President
- Senate Republican Welfare Reform Task Force
- Chair
- Senate Republican Caucus, 1997 - 1998
- Vice-Chairman
- Senate Study Committee on Privatization of Government Services and Functions
- Chairman
- Past Employment Positions:
- The Times, Gainesville, Georgia, Newspaper Reporter, 1976 - 1977
- Cook, Noell, Tolley and Aldridge, Athens, Georgia, Associate Attorney, 1980 - 1983
- Georgia State Senate, 51st Senate District of Georgia, 1993 - 1999
- Georgia State Senate, Appropriations Committee
- Georgia State Senate, Education Committee
- Georgia State Senate, Judiciary Committee
- Georgia State Senate, Rules Committee
- Governor's Privatization Commission
- Birth Information:
- March 14, 1954, Ellijay, Georgia, United States of America
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